glad to hear that Ray…….so many times on a long project i loose mine, and have to sit down and take stock, and give youirself time to think. Only natural when you give a project your all.

Its not a case of loosing your mojo…………..just needing a rest from giving it 100 per cent, and choosing another distraction from the worries of the world………and we all have those , lol.

And thankls for the complements………much apreciated. cheers.

Stanchions have now been glued permenantly to the two boats, and the rope guards will be added tomorrow, to complete the next of the four jobs before "commisioning" of them both.

After realising last night, or to be more accurate early this morning i realised that in its permenantly erected possition, neither of these two boats would fit into the back of my car as the boat and mast was far to high, and so something had to be modified so that the mast could be dropped!!!

JOB DONE with regards to collapsing the mast.

I disconected the dummy turnbuckles from the deck eyebolts and simply replaced the "string" that was attaching the two together with the snap link [size 16] from a fishermans snap swivel, with swivel removed.

Then on to job 3 of 4, which was the running through the stanchions two holes, the guard rails, which in the case of these 4 boats as built was rope. I used 2,5mm crochet cotton stained in a nice mahogany brown.

Including the split sections with hooks for giving access to survivers in the water to release sections of the guard ropes [which were made from 1mm brass or copper tinned electrical wire that job took just over 4 hours in total for both boats.

An tomorrow the last of the 4 jobs will be completed, as the main part of that was done yesterday………the tying up of the grab rails for the side of the boats.

All I then have to do are a couple of small jobs fitting a few bits that I have yet to do, and on Sunday morning, RNLB William and Kate Johnston will be taken to New Brighton model boating lake to be handed over to her new owner.

I will look forward to that moment and hopefully a smile on his face, lol.

all but for mounting the running and navigation lamps and her name and station putting on to the boat, the RNLB Princess Mary of Padstow station is now complete. Even the rudder linkage has neen added to the stern servo.

A sense of relief has passed over me. Tomorrow is the turn of the RNLB William and Kate Johnston.

The last but one picture with the dropped mast is going to its new owner in New Brighton tomorrow morning and once out of the car the mast will be erected and cabin on………….hopefully I'll get some photos of her with the new owner if the very blustery and windy rainy weather abates, and calmness prevails.

And last night I received an email from the editor of Model Boats telling me that a group has been formed to bring the actual lifeboat that this model is based upon home to her ancestral home New Brighton on the Wirrall, to be restored to her original condition and then used as a trip boat to continue to give people an insight as to how the RNLI has developed over the years.

I look forward to seeing that happen and to take a trip on her myself.

thank you Ray and Colin, I appreciate your and all the comments from members far and wide, they have kept me going, as at times, i just wanted to take a break and do something smaller, as they both took up the whole of my workshop with little space to move.

BUT your comments spurred me on and I'm glad you did. They turned out better than even i could imagine, and hope to get mine on the water after my surgery in 2 weeks and convalescence.

Something smaller next time………getting too old for big lumps lol.

But for now, a bit of a tidy up in the workshop so that I could put my boat somewhere to work on and get her mobile on the water!

Even able to use my laithe again that was buried under so much clutter.

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 16/07/2023 19:32:05

he's a collecter of model lifeboats Richard and lives on the Wirral, close to New Brighton, and shows at different gatherings to help raise money for the RNLI.

Also a member of the New Brighton model boat club.

Thanks George…………….might be a little longer than next week……….am in hospital for surgary on my thyroid gland and its removal, so depends on what happens next is up to the almighty.

but asap hopefully.

Well, I got my boats station named on the stern on the 93rd anniversary of the actual boat being named, 21st July 1930, but sadly a certain hobby supply company in Norfolk and or Royal Mail totally let me down in not sending my BECC 10mm lettering in time…………..in fact the package still hasn't arrived 14 days after I ordered it, and when I emailed them last week all they could say is it was posted 4 days after the order was placed and for ME to get in touch with Royal Fail…….with no tracking no., or proof of posting supplied by the company what on earth am I supposed to do.

ALWAYS had good, in fact excellent service from them many times in the past………..by they could just NOT be bothered this time, and it hurts as well as annoying, and because of their lese'fair and unhelpful attitude I will not ever order from them again.

However on the bright side, I ordered on Saturday just gone some croche'd rope fenders so I don't damage my paintwork on the beast and they arrived this morning…….brilliant service!!!………and are now fitted,. and they look great.

But as a consolation I also got the station name and the bow flags of the correct era on the boat, on the anniversary date.

And as I wait for some lettering to name her, I have started fitting out the inside of the boat with a tray for the batteries, and an upper shelf to fit the electronics on……well above the waterline so that I can use either my 40mhz or my 2.4ghz radio systems.